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Jewish Law From Out Of The Depths: Tragic Choices In The Holocaust, Samuel J. Levine
Jewish Law From Out Of The Depths: Tragic Choices In The Holocaust, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
No abstract provided.
Untold Stories Of Goldman V. Weinberger: Religious Freedom Confronts Military Uniformity, Samuel J. Levine
Untold Stories Of Goldman V. Weinberger: Religious Freedom Confronts Military Uniformity, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In 1986, the United States Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision ruling that Air Force regulations prohibiting Simcha Goldman from wearing a yarmulke while in uniform did not violate Goldman’s First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The Court’s majority opinion, which accepted the government’s assertion that allowing Goldman to wear a yarmulke would unduly upset important military interests, drew unusually harsh responses from both dissenting justices and legal scholars. Yet, upon closer examination, perhaps what stands out most about the events surrounding the Goldman decision is the untold story of the case, which differs in significant …
Portraits Of Criminals On Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska: The Enigmatic Criminal, The Sympathetic Criminal, And The Criminal As Brother, Samuel J. Levine
Portraits Of Criminals On Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska: The Enigmatic Criminal, The Sympathetic Criminal, And The Criminal As Brother, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Deconstructing Bruce Springsteen's album, "Nebraska," Levine demonstrates how Springsteen's songs challenge modern paradigms of crime, punishment and the American criminal justice system. Professor Levine deconstructs the message of the album by introducing the reader to the three categories of criminals who appear on the album: The enigmatic criminal; the sympathetic criminal; and the "criminal as brother." Professor Levine first examines the enigmatic criminal who materializes in Springsteen's title track, "Nebraska." This criminal shows no remorse for his crime and makes no attempt to justify or explain his actions. The enigmatic criminal demonstrates how an exploration of the criminal mindset may …
Reflections On Responsibilities In The Public Square, Through A Perspective Of Jewish Tradition: A Brief Biblical Survey, Samuel J. Levine
Reflections On Responsibilities In The Public Square, Through A Perspective Of Jewish Tradition: A Brief Biblical Survey, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In recent years, there has developed in the United States a substantial and growing interest in the role of religion in the public square. Within religious communities, the conversation has, at times, focused on the approach of specific religious traditions toward their own responsibilities to contribute to and influence the moral, ethical, and legal standards of American society. For Jewish communities living in the United States, these questions comprise yet another application of issues the Jewish people has confronted throughout its history. To the extent that the nature of American political and social structures differ significantly from those experienced by …
Reflections On The Constitutional Scholarship Of Charles Black: A Look Back And A Look Forward, Samuel J. Levine
Reflections On The Constitutional Scholarship Of Charles Black: A Look Back And A Look Forward, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Charles L. Black Jr. has been one of the most important constitutional scholars in the United States for more than four decades. Professor Black's writings have helped shape the debate in a wide variety of constitutional areas, from racial equality and welfare rights to constitutional amendment, impeachment, and the death penalty. In this essay, Levine briefly surveys a number of Professor Black's articles, focusing on two areas of his scholarship: unnamed human rights and racial justice. By analyzing these two topics, which represent, respectively, Black's most recent scholarship and his most significant early work, Levine attempts to show certain principles …
Portraits Of Criminals On Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska: The Enigmatic Criminal, The Sympathetic Criminal, And The Criminal As Brother, Samuel J. Levine
Portraits Of Criminals On Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska: The Enigmatic Criminal, The Sympathetic Criminal, And The Criminal As Brother, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Deconstructing Bruce Springsteen's album, "Nebraska," Levine demonstrates how Springsteen's songs challenge modern paradigms of crime, punishment and the American criminal justice system. Professor Levine deconstructs the message of the album by introducing the reader to the three categories of criminals who appear on the album: The enigmatic criminal; the sympathetic criminal; and the "criminal as brother." Professor Levine first examines the enigmatic criminal who materializes in Springsteen's title track, "Nebraska." This criminal shows no remorse for his crime and makes no attempt to justify or explain his actions. The enigmatic criminal demonstrates how an exploration of the criminal mindset may …
Louis Marshall, Julius Henry Cohen, Benjamin Cardozo, And The New York Emergency Rent Laws Of 1920: A Case Study In The Role Of Jewish Lawyers And Jewish Law In Early Twentieth Century Public Interest Litigation, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In this Article, Levine examines the litigation surrounding the New York Emergency Rent Laws of 1920. In particular, he focuses upon a series of cases litigated by two of the most prominent Jewish lawyers in United States in the first half of the twentieth century: Louis Marshall and Julius Henry Cohen. Among other notable aspects of the litigation, the cases reached the New York Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court, which at that time included two of the most eminent jurists in the history of the United States, Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, …
Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools: An Emerging Development In Law And Religion, Samuel J. Levine
Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools: An Emerging Development In Law And Religion, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In recent years, religion has gained an increasing prominence in both the legal profession and the academy. Through the emergence of the "religious lawyering movement," lawyers and legal scholars have demonstrated the potential relevance of religion to many aspects of lawyering. Likewise, legal scholars have incorporated religious thought into their work through books, law journals and classroom teaching relating to various areas of law and religion. In this Essay, Levine discusses one particular aspect of these efforts, namely, the place of Jewish law in the American law school curriculum. Specifically, he outlines briefly three possible models for a course in …
Unenumerated Constitutional Rights And Unenumerated Biblical Obligations: A Preliminary Study In Comparative Hermeneutics, Samuel J. Levine
Unenumerated Constitutional Rights And Unenumerated Biblical Obligations: A Preliminary Study In Comparative Hermeneutics, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In his 1986 Yale Law Journal article, Robert Cover wrote of an explosion of legal scholarship placing interpretation at the crux of the enterprise of law. As part of the continuing emphasis on hermeneutics in constitutional interpretation, a body of literature has emerged comparing constitutional textual analysis to Biblical hermeneutics. This scholarship has been based on the recognition that, like the Constitution, the Bible functions as an authoritative legal text that must be interpreted in order to serve as the foundation for a living community. Levine looks at a basic hermeneutic device common to both Biblical and constitutional interpretation, the …
Looking Beyond The Mercy/Justice Dichotomy: Reflections On The Complementary Roles Of Mercy And Justice In Jewish Law And Tradition, Samuel J. Levine
Looking Beyond The Mercy/Justice Dichotomy: Reflections On The Complementary Roles Of Mercy And Justice In Jewish Law And Tradition, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In one of his earliest encyclicals, Dives in Misericordia, Pope John Paul II explored the concepts of mercy and kindness, with a focus on notions of divine love and compassion. Building upon these observations, and drawing extensively on the work of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and other scholars of Jewish law and philosophy, Levine considers the complementary roles of justice and mercy in Jewish tradition. Toward that end, Levine places these concepts in a broader perspective, viewing mercy as representative of attributes such as kindness, compassion, love, and peacefulness, while understanding justice in terms of more exacting principles, such as strict …
Capital Punishment In Jewish Law And Its Application To The American Legal System: A Conceptual Overview, Samuel J. Levine
Capital Punishment In Jewish Law And Its Application To The American Legal System: A Conceptual Overview, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In recent years, a growing body of scholarship has developed in the United States that applies concepts in Jewish law to unsettled, controversial, and challenging areas of American legal thought. One area of Jewish legal thought that has found prominence in both American court opinions and American legal scholarship concerns the approach taken by Jewish law to capital punishment. In this Essay, Levine discusses the issue of the death penalty in Jewish law as it relates to the question of the death penalty in American law, a discussion that requires the rejection of simplistic conclusions and the confrontation of the …
Miranda, Dickerson, And Jewish Legal Theory: The Constitutional Rule In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Miranda, Dickerson, And Jewish Legal Theory: The Constitutional Rule In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In this Essay, Professor Levine briefly explores Dickerson v. United States, the important 2000 decision in which a divided United States Supreme Court held that the standard established in Miranda v. Arizona continues to govern the admissibility of confessions, notwithstanding a federal statute enacted subsequent to Miranda that provided an alternative standard. Levine addresses broader theoretical implications of the approaches adopted by the majority and dissenting opinions in Dickerson. Drawing a parallel to the interpretation of the Torah in Jewish legal theory, he proposes a comparative framework for analyzing the division between the majority and dissent over the concept and …
Richard Posner Meets Reb Chaim Of Brisk: A Comparative Study In The Founding Of Intellectual Legal Movements, Samuel J. Levine
Richard Posner Meets Reb Chaim Of Brisk: A Comparative Study In The Founding Of Intellectual Legal Movements, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Of the various movements that have surfaced in American legal theory in recent decades, law and economics has emerged as perhaps the most influential, leading some to characterize it as the dominant contemporary mode of analysis among American legal scholars. In this essay, Levine considers law and economics in the context of a comparative discussion of another prominent intellectual legal movement, the Brisker method of Talmudic analysis, which originated in Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century and quickly developed into a leading method of theoretical study of Jewish law. The Brisker method takes its name from the city of …
Seeking A Common Language For The Application Of Rule 11 Sanctions: What Is "Frivolous"?, Samuel J. Levine
Seeking A Common Language For The Application Of Rule 11 Sanctions: What Is "Frivolous"?, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In this article, Levine analyzes some of the complex issues involved in attempting to apply the ambiguous concept of frivolousness in the context of Rule 11 sanctions. He documents the inconsistency in judicial interpretation and application of Rule 11 frivolousness. Relying in part on the observations and concerns expressed by scholars, practitioners, and judges themselves who have lamented the lack of uniformity and the troubling results that have followed, Levine examines closely some of the problems inherent in the current standards. After demonstrating the wide range of approaches put forth by both judges and scholars to the interpretation of Rule …
Teshuva: A Look At Repentance, Forgiveness And Atonement In Jewish Law And Philosophy And American Legal Thought, Samuel J. Levine
Teshuva: A Look At Repentance, Forgiveness And Atonement In Jewish Law And Philosophy And American Legal Thought, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Professor Levine examines the atonement model and its relevance to American law. He outlines and explains the necessary steps by the wrongdoer for atonement: repentance, apology, reparation and penance. The wronged party then has the obligation of reconciliation for the process to be complete. Despite the prominent position it has held for millennia in religious thinking, the atonement model is relatively new to American legal theory. Professor Stephen Garvey's attempt to offer a systematic depiction and analysis of the process of atonement and its possible relevance to American law appears to represent the most extensive effort to date. Any application …
Of Inkblots And Omnisignificance: Conceptualizing Secondary And Symbolic Functions Of The Ninth Amendment, In A Comparative Hermeneutic Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Of Inkblots And Omnisignificance: Conceptualizing Secondary And Symbolic Functions Of The Ninth Amendment, In A Comparative Hermeneutic Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In this Essay, Levine focuses on a particular hermeneutic approach common to the interpretation of the Torah and the United States Constitution: a presumption against superfluity. This presumption accords to the text a considerable degree of omnisignificance, requiring that interpreters pay careful attention to every textual phrase and nuance in an effort to find its legal meaning and implications. In light of this presumption, it might be expected that normative interpretation of both the Torah and the Constitution would preclude a methodology that allows sections of the text to remain bereft of concrete legal application. In fact, however, both the …
Rethinking The Supreme Court’S Hands-Off Approach To Questions Of Religious Practice And Belief, Samuel J. Levine
Rethinking The Supreme Court’S Hands-Off Approach To Questions Of Religious Practice And Belief, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has shown an increasing unwillingness to engage in deciding matters that relate to the interpretation of religious practice and belief. While the Justices have articulated valid concerns concerning these cases, courts should not allow these concerns to deter them from making decisions vital to the effective adjudication of Free Exercise and Establishment Clause cases. In fact, it appears that as a result of the Court's increasing refusal to consider carefully the religious questions central to many cases, the Court often tends to group together religious claims and practices, regardless of the relative …
Halacha And Aggada: Translating Robert Cover’S Nomos And Narrative, Samuel J. Levine
Halacha And Aggada: Translating Robert Cover’S Nomos And Narrative, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Levine takes a look at Robert Cover's 1983 Harvard Law Review article, Nomos and Narrative. Nomos is characterized by its heavy reliance on Jewish sources as a basis for analyzing contemporary American legal theory. The basis of narrative is the thesis that no set of legal institutions or prescriptions exists apart from the narratives that locate it and give it meaning, so law becomes not merely a system of rules to be observed, but a world in which we live. Cover's explanation of these ideas coincided with and influenced the emergence of what has become known as "legal storytelling". In …
The Broad Life Of The Jewish Lawyer: Integrating Spirituality, Scholarship And Profession, Samuel J. Levine
The Broad Life Of The Jewish Lawyer: Integrating Spirituality, Scholarship And Profession, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
The religious individual faces the constant challenge of reconciling religious ideals with the mundane realities of everyday life. Indeed, it is through the performance of ordinary daily activities that a person can truly observe such religious duties as serving God and loving one's neighbor. For the Orthodox Jew, an intricate set of religious laws and principles governs every area of life. In choosing a career, an Orthodox Jew must therefore be concerned that professional obligations not interfere with the fulfillment of religious ones. While religious duties impose obligations on the religious individual, at the same time they provide opportunities to …
A Look At American Legal Practice Through A Perspective Of Jewish Law, Ethics, And Tradition: A Conceptual Overview, Samuel J. Levine
A Look At American Legal Practice Through A Perspective Of Jewish Law, Ethics, And Tradition: A Conceptual Overview, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Levine examines the roles of legislative and judicial bodies, in the context of a discussion of broader principles of legislation in the Jewish legal system. In recent years, American legal scholars have increasingly looked to Jewish law as a model of an alternative legal system that considers many of the issues present in the American legal system. In relation to the roles of legislative and judicial bodies, the Jewish legal system provides a particularly illuminating contrast to the American legal system, in part because in Jewish law, the same authority, the Sanhedrin, or High Court, serves in both a legislative …
Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine
Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Among the challenges facing the lawyer who renders legal services to clients with limited means are ethical and professional questions relating to the influence of third parties on the lawyer-client relationship. Although all lawyers may potentially face ethical dilemmas involving third parties, legal services lawyers are particularly vulnerable to such issues because, unlike most lawyers, legal services lawyers generally rely on the financial support of someone other than their client. These challenges may take many forms, affecting a variety of ethical and professional considerations. Levine examines a number of areas in which bar association committees, scholars, and courts have addressed …
Professionalism Without Parochialism: Julius Henry Cohen, Rabbi Nachman Of Breslov, And The Stories Of Two Sons, Samuel J. Levine
Professionalism Without Parochialism: Julius Henry Cohen, Rabbi Nachman Of Breslov, And The Stories Of Two Sons, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Professor Levine addresses the question of whether the practice of law a business or a profession and looks at sources where practitioners might draw inspiration for ethical behaviors. He examines two works: a 1916 book by Julius Henry Cohen - The Law: Business or Profession?; and a tale by Chasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Both works tell the story of two sons from two different fathers with different ethical natures that manifest in their different choices of and approaches to their careers. Professor Levine uses these two parables to suggest that a more inclusive question than those posed above: …
Law, Ethics, And Religion In The Public Square: Principles Of Restraint And Withdrawal, Samuel J. Levine
Law, Ethics, And Religion In The Public Square: Principles Of Restraint And Withdrawal, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
In recent years, scholars have begun to recognize and discuss the profound questions that arise in attempting to determine the place of religion in the law and the legal profession. This discussion has emerged on at least two separate yet related levels. On one level, scholars have debated the place of religion in various segments of the public sphere, including law and politics. On a second level, lawyers have expressed the aim to place their professional values and obligations in the context of their overriding religious obligations. This article explores, from both an ethical and jurisprudential perspective, the question of …
Taking Prosecutorial Ethics Seriously: A Consideration Of The Prosecutor's Ethical Obligation To Seek Justice In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Taking Prosecutorial Ethics Seriously: A Consideration Of The Prosecutor's Ethical Obligation To Seek Justice In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
This article examines the complex nature of the prosecutor's broad obligation to seek justice through a consideration of the similarly broad directive in Jewish law requiring that "in all [of] your ways acknowledge [God]." While many have critiqued the broad directives governing a prosecutor's ethical duties, through this comparative analytical framework it can be seen that the prosecutor's broad ethical directive to seek justice serves as a workable and appropriate standard for prosecutorial ethics. In many ways, a prosecutor faces an ethical obligation unlike other attorneys. Ethical obligations require that a prosecutor forgo conduct that would increase the likelihood of …
Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine
Legal Services Lawyers And The Influence Of Third Parties On The Lawyer-Client Relationship: Some Thoughts From Scholars, Practitioners, And Courts, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
Among the challenges facing the lawyer who renders legal services to clients with limited means are ethical and professional questions relating to the influence of third parties on the lawyer-client relationship. Although all lawyers may potentially face ethical dilemmas involving third parties, legal services lawyers are particularly vulnerable to such issues because, unlike most lawyers, legal services lawyers generally rely on the financial support of someone other than their client. These challenges may take many forms, affecting a variety of ethical and professional considerations. Levine examines a number of areas in which bar association committees, scholars, and courts have addressed …
Religious Symbols And Religious Garb In The Courtroom: Personal Values And Public Judgments, Samuel J. Levine
Religious Symbols And Religious Garb In The Courtroom: Personal Values And Public Judgments, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
As a nation that values and guarantees religious freedom, the United States is often faced with questions regarding the public display of religious symbols. Such questions have arisen in a number of Supreme Court cases, involving both Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause issues. Since 1984, the Court has considered the constitutionality of the display of religious symbols such as a creche, a menorah, and a cross in public areas. The Court has also considered the constitutionality of Air Force regulations that prohibited a clinical psychologist from wearing a yarmulke. Parallel to the Supreme Court cases, a number of federal …